And in the following episode, ‘ To Ransom a Man's Soul ’, Sam’s character, Jamie Fraser, is sexually assaulted by Black Jack in a climatic finale to the first season.

But Borders-born Sam has heaped praise on director Anna, who is also known for her work on blockbuster films Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, after the two episodes were very well received by critics and fans alike. .

Speaking to Variety, Sam said: "She (Anna) was terrific, she was very diligent and did a lot of prep. She really pushed me a lot, she kept challenging me and it was almost like a mind game, it was very interesting.

"She was very caring and thoughtful but she would definitely try to get some interesting performances out of us and I think she did that.

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"It might have been different in another director’s hands, for sure."

The 34-year-old hunk revealed he was “nervous” about the reaction of the fans after the episode aired.

Sam added: “Initially, relief was probably the first [emotion] because it’s such a big event and we worked really hard towards those scenes and I was really proud of them.